The Sooner the Better

by Debbie Macomber

  “It isn’t that.”

  “I’ll request a transfer on Monday morning. You won’t have to see me again.”

  Marjorie felt an immediate sense of loss. She wanted to see Gary, considered him her ally and friend. Her intense attraction to him had nothing to do with that. The thought of working at Med-X and not being able to go to him with her problems devastated her. No one else was as patient, as understanding. Not only that, she’d taken over the territory he’d covered before his promotion. She’d found his advice invaluable in dealing with his former clients. Half her success was actually due to him.

  “Don’t do that, Gary,” she whispered.

  Being a perceptive child, Brice left the room.

  “Could we talk?” Gary asked.

  “I…I don’t think so.” Marjorie couldn’t see that it would do any good. She’d only want him to kiss her again and didn’t know if she could disguise her feelings, especially outside the office.

  “I’m an idiot,” Gary said. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

  “It isn’t you, it’s me.”

  “I should never have kissed you.”

  Marjorie closed her eyes. “It was what I wanted.” What she’d dreamed about for weeks.

  “You did?”

  “It isn’t a good idea for us to talk except at work,” she felt compelled to say. “It’s better for us both if we nip this in the bud and not see each other again. I’ll draft my letter of resignation over the weekend.”

  “You’re serious about quitting Med-X?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even if I request a transfer?”

  “Yes.” The temptation to stay was strong, but she couldn’t let him uproot his life because of her. He’d been with the company far longer than she had. Her leaving was the fairer alternative. Briefly she considered asking for a transfer herself, but knew she’d still see him at the quarterly sales conferences and at other company events. Anyway, she couldn’t tear her son away from his school, his friends, his familiar surroundings.

  “Then I guess there’s nothing I can do, is there? If you think of something, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything.”

  “Oh, Gary…” She felt like crying.

  “Is there anything I can do?” he asked once more.

  “No,” she whispered. She turned off the phone.

  Jack had witnessed terror in his life, seen it on the faces of others, even been the cause of it. But nothing from his past could have prepared him for what he felt when he saw Lorraine race across the highway with her hands bound.

  As soon as he’d learned that Jason Applebee had tricked Thomas into giving him information about Lorraine, Jack had tried to reach her at the hotel. When there was no answer in her room, he hurried back. By pure luck he caught sight of her in the rear seat of a black car. Two men in front. Even a fleeting glance told him the driver was Carlos. The other had to be Jason. In a moment of craziness, Jack found a man with a vehicle and paid him an outrageous amount of money for the use of it.

  Still, he was too far behind Carlos and Jason to catch more than a glimpse of the car as they sped through the streets and past the shantytowns that bordered the city. Somewhere along the way he lost sight of the car and drove around frantically, searching with no success. Then he’d taken the jungle road, and that was when he happened upon Lorraine. Carlos wasn’t far behind. Jack saw him run into the trees at a different angle.

  He slammed on the brakes and leaped out of the vehicle, racing after Carlos. He had no weapon. No gun. Not even a knife. But his intuition told him any delay would mean Lorraine’s death. If his lack of weapons meant he died defending her, then so be it.

  The jungle was impossibly thick, and Carlos was nowhere to be seen. Jack soon found what Lorraine must have discovered. A few yards into the dense vegetation, was the edge of a cliff. The river twisted around the jagged rocks below. Jack had never been fond of heights and stepped cautiously back.

  Lorraine’s scream propelled him into action and he fought his way toward her.

  Carlos had her on the ground. Despite her struggles, he’d managed to rip off her blouse and in the process beaten her nearly senseless. Her face was bloody, her eyes swollen shut, and still she fought him, still she struggled.

  Jack had never loved her more or admired her courage as much. With a cry that came from deep within his throat, he launched himself at Carlos.

  Swinging around as he crouched over Lorraine, Carlos pointed a gun directly at him. To Jack’s astonishment, Lorraine heaved herself up from the ground and slammed her head into Carlos’s arm. The gun flew out of his hand and into the trees.

  The reprieve was all Jack needed. He charged the other man, throwing him off Lorraine, but the force of the attack stole his breath. The wound in his shoulder had only partially healed, and his stamina and strength were much lower than normal.

  What Jack lacked in brute strength, he compensated for with skill and finesse, punching Carlos repeatedly on his injured arm.

  The man grunted with pain and returned the favor, barreling his ham-size fist into Jack’s bandaged shoulder.

  Pain spiraled down Jack’s arm and he fell to his knees in agony. For an instant the world went black as he dealt with the crippling pain.

  “You bastard!” Lorraine shouted at Jack’s tormented cry. With a shout of outrage, she flung herself at Carlos, shoving him off balance.

  Carlos staggered, then whirled around, ramming her into a tree. She slumped, unconscious, against its base. Her action—her courage—gave Jack time to let the stars dissolve from his eyes.

  As soon as he could, he entered the fray again, going after Carlos with a vengeance. Carlos didn’t wait for Jack, but raged after him, knocking him off his feet. He had the superior strength, but Jack was fighting for Lorraine’s life as well as his own.

  They broke apart and circled each other. Jack’s eyes held the other man’s, letting him know that this would be a fight to the end. Either he died or Carlos died. There could be no compromise.

  In his weakened condition, Jack knew Carlos had the advantage. His strength would only hold out for so long. He’d lose, and when he did, the bastard would kill Lorraine.

  Carlos lunged for him first, and they ventured dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. Jack heard the rush of the water below. One wrong move and he’d fall to a certain death.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Lorraine had regained consciousness and had started to scrabble frantically, kicking through the underbrush for the gun.

  With his back to the cliff, Jack couldn’t gauge how close he was to the edge. It was then that he knew what he had to do. There was no other way to save Lorraine. No other way to stop Carlos.

  Already he could feel his strength leaving him. Carlos had the momentum, the stamina…the hatred.

  Jack acted quickly—out of need and determination. Out of love. He reached for Carlos and with his last reservoir of strength propelled them both toward the ledge.

  Carlos threw out his arms in a desperate effort to save himself, but it was too late. Both men teetered there for a moment and then they went over.

  The last thing Jack heard as he tumbled over the cliff’s edge was Lorraine’s horrified scream.

  Sixteen

  The Mexican Department of Rescue worked feverishly for the next few hours. Several emergency technicians had been lowered carefully down the side of the cliff and they were now examining the bodies.

  No one could have survived a fall like that. Lorraine had known it the moment she saw the two men sprawled on the shore below. Carlos had struck the rocks and his body lay there, twisted and broken. Jack—her heart stopped beating every time she glanced over the edge—lay on the riverbank, faceup. Lorraine fell to her knees, her pain too much to bear.

  After she’d seen Jack and Carlos go over the cliff, she’d run into the middle of the highway, nearly getting hit by a fast-moving car. Thankfully, the young couple spoke enough English to understand that there’d bee
n a terrible accident. They were the ones who’d contacted the authorities.

  “Miss, miss, we need you to answer questions.” The policeman, whose name tag identified him as Officer de Oro, hunkered down where she knelt. His voice was gentle, concerned. She didn’t mean to ignore him, but his English was difficult to understand. “Can you talk now? Please,” he continued. “There are many questions.”

  “I need to know if he’s alive. I love him.” Her voice cracked and she refused to move away from the cliff edge, refused to stop gazing down at Jack. Illogically she thought that her love would somehow help him if he’d managed to survive.

  “No one could live after such a fall.”

  She knew it without his saying so and merely shook her head. Officer de Oro’s words underscored her worst fears.

  “What happened?”

  Lorraine didn’t know where she could possibly start. “I want my father,” she whispered brokenly, and gave him Thomas’s name. “I need my father. Could I call him, please?”

  “Yes, we’ll arrange that later,” the policeman said. “Who is the dead man on the other side of the road?” he asked urgently. “Can you tell us that much?”

  “Jason Applebee.”

  “American?”

  She nodded. “He’s the man who stole the Kukulcan Star.” Her answer generated an immediate response. Officer de Oro leaped up and called over another policeman. They spoke in hushed tones before the second man hurried to the radio in the patrol car.

  “He no longer has the Star,” Lorraine said in a weak voice.

  “Who does?”

  “The Department of Antiquities.”

  “How can you be sure?” he asked.

  “Because I gave it to them this morning.” Was it only this morning?

  “Do you have the name of the person you gave it to?”

  “Dr. Marcus Molino.”

  He left her to speak to the second officer again. She noticed that the activity far below had increased, and now a member of the rescue squad raced over to speak to the policemen. He was in radio contact with the people working below. Lorraine desperately wanted to understand what was happening.

  “Tell me,” she said, turning to Officer de Oro when he hurried back to her side. “What did he say?”

  “The man on the rocks is dead.”

  Carlos was dead, but she felt no sense of exhilaration. She hardly even felt relief. Instead, she experienced a deep sadness—because she realized the next news she heard would be of Jack’s death.

  He’d died for her. He’d given up his life to save her. He loved her. Neither of them had spoken the words; neither had found the courage to actually say them. But Jack had loved her. And she loved him, more than she’d ever known she was capable of loving.

  What was she going to do? How could she resume her life without him? Right now, it didn’t seem possible.

  The man with the radio spoke to the other police officer again. A flurry of activity followed, with ropes and stretchers being assembled and instructions shouted.

  “What’s happening?” she asked, hope filling her heart. She struggled to her feet. “Tell me, tell me.” She gripped the police officer by the arm and wouldn’t let go until he told her.

  “The second man is alive.”

  She nearly passed out with relief.

  “But barely.”

  “Then we must get him to the hospital! As soon as possible. Please, please hurry.”

  Jack was alive. There was a chance. It bubbled up inside her, this surge of sudden unexpected promise. It was all she could do not to hug the man who’d delivered the news.

  The ambulance was already there. The man from the rescue squad tried to steer her away from the cliff to have her injuries treated, but she wouldn’t leave. Not until she heard the final word on Jack.

  “He’s alive!” She wept openly at the news. “Alive.”

  “Miss, miss, now you see the doctor?”

  “Not until Jack is brought up from the cliff.”

  “But, miss—”

  “I’ll answer all your questions later,” she assured him.

  She kept her gaze trained on Jack, who was being brought up the face of the cliff by perhaps half a dozen men below, as many above, all working together. It astonished her that such a difficult rescue could even be accomplished. She was careful to stay out of everyone’s way. The task seemed to take hours of coordinated effort; in actuality it was less than forty minutes.

  As soon as the men carrying Jack reached the top, he was hurried into the waiting ambulance. The rescue team, their faces red with exertion, stepped back from the vehicle.

  Before anyone could protest, Lorraine climbed into the back of the ambulance with the medical technician.

  Once inside, Lorraine got her first look at Jack. As a nurse practitioner she’d worked with accident victims before, but this was the worst she’d ever seen. She was appalled by the extent of his injuries. It was a miracle he wasn’t dead. She felt for the pulse in his neck, which was almost too faint to register. His internal injuries had to be massive, and he’d obviously broken a number of bones. Most likely he’d received a spinal injury.

  The medical technician worked frantically, getting Jack hooked up to an IV and combating the effects of shock. Lorraine simply watched, holding Jack’s limp hand. Watched and prayed.

  The siren began to wail as they started down the highway.

  The next two days were a blur in Lorraine’s mind. Jack was taken almost immediately into surgery. His injuries proved as extensive as she’d feared, with plenty of room for complications and problems. She refused to leave his bedside, even when her father appeared.

  As soon as Thomas Dancy took one look at her, she could see he was badly shaken. Both her eyes had been blackened, her nose broken, and the gash in the back of her head had needed fifteen stitches. Funny how she hadn’t felt a thing, not one second of pain, from the moment Jack went over the cliff.

  Every ounce of energy she had she gave to Jack. All her strength, her will, everything she had to give. He had to stay alive.

  “Raine?” Her father stood by the hospital bed where Jack remained unconscious, attached to various monitors.

  She fell into his arms, desperately needing his support. “I love him so much.” She understood now that she’d never really been in love. What she and Gary had was more friendship than passion. They were friends and companions, fond of each other but not in love. In many ways Gary had been her mother’s choice rather than her own.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” Thomas asked.

  “Not now.” Others assumed she was fragile, that her state of mind had been compromised by her ordeal. Perhaps they were right; she was no longer a good judge of such things. Not that it mattered. What was important was being with Jack. She thought of nothing and no one else.

  “Raine,” her father urged. “Come to the hotel. Sleep.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I never told him,” she said, glancing away from Jack to briefly meet her father’s eyes. “I won’t leave him.”

  “He loves you, too?” her father asked in a hesitant voice.

  “Oh, yes,” she whispered, knowing she could never explain in words the special relationship they’d shared. She’d never doubted or questioned Jack’s love, just as he’d never doubted hers for him. It was something neither of them could or would say. For Jack, love was an emotion he couldn’t afford to express to a woman he assumed was married. As for herself, she’d gambled, certain she’d have time enough to tell him the truth.

  If he died now, they both lost.

  Her father sat with her. After the first barrage of concerned questions, he’d asked no more, and she appreciated that. It was as if he understood she had to see this to the end. Whatever that end might be.

  The hospital was quiet. Night settled around her as she stayed at Jack’s bedside, alone now. She held his hand in hers and pressed her lips to the inside of his wrist.

  “Once you’r
e out of here,” she told him, “we’ll—”

  She wasn’t allowed to finish. His heart monitor started to blare, a piercing alarm that shattered the night and brought hospital staff running. A glance at the electronic readout showed one long straight line. Cardiac arrest.

  Gary Franklin had decided he would refuse Marjorie’s letter of resignation. This wasn’t a personal decision, he convinced himself, but one he’d made out of concern for the company. After months of training, Med-X had invested a lot of money in Marjorie Ellis, and it would be a detriment to the organization if she left now.

  Just as he’d suspected, he found her letter on his desk Monday morning. Knowing exactly what he intended to do, Gary grabbed it and walked briskly to her office.

  Marjorie looked up in surprise when he entered and closed the door. “I can’t accept this,” he announced.

  “Can’t or won’t?” she challenged.

  “Both.” He gave her the company line, explaining that Med-X would lose a substantial sum of money if she resigned.

  “Then I’ll train my replacement before I go,” she offered.

  He hesitated.

  “You can’t force me to continue working here.”

  She had a point. “No, but I’d consider it a personal favor if you didn’t leave the company in a bind. Also, you’re working out beautifully here and we’d hate to lose you.”

  Marjorie sagged in her chair. He noted that she’d already loaded half the contents of her drawers into a cardboard box.

  “I’m hoping you’ll reconsider.”

  She wouldn’t look at him. “I can’t…I won’t.”

  “If that’s what you want, okay, but…” He couldn’t find a diplomatic way of telling her how important it was to him that she remain at Med-X. Nothing to do with the company. He wanted her on the job for purely selfish reasons.

  “Why is it so critical for you to leave?” At first he’d assumed it was because of his…advances, he supposed the term was. But he’d analyzed each time they’d kissed, plus a few remarks she’d made, and realized she’d wanted him to kiss her. She’d enjoyed their kisses as much as he had.